[ale] OT: gas going up this weekend

[Geoffrey Myers]

David Tomaschik wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 2:54 PM, Geoffrey Myers
> <lists at serioustechnology.com> wrote:
>> Jim Kinney wrote:
>>>
>>> On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 2:04 PM, The Don Lachlan <ale-at-ale.org
>>> <http://ale-at-ale.org>@unpopularminds.org <http://unpopularminds.org>>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>     Georgia used to have very inexpensive gas. Now, it's the higher side
>>>     of average and the national average is between 3 and 4 times what it
>>>     was 10
>>>     years ago.
>>>
>>> National average (today) is $3.88 and Ga is $3.76. We're still lower
>>> than average and the new tax bit won't change that.
>>>
>>>  http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/?redirectto=http://fuelgaugereport.opisnet.com/index.asp
>> You know what they say about average?  A guy is standing with one foot
>> in a bucket of frozen water, the other foot in boiling water.  On
>> average he should be okay. ;)
>>
>> Personally, being below average doesn't comfort me.  I think the price
>> of gas is too high.  I don't know who to blame.  It sucks.
>>
> 
> 
> I'm sure this flies against what everyone else thinks, but I actually
> think the price of gas is too low.  The government really needs to
> stop subsidizing big oil, because the motivation to move away from oil
> as our primary energy source is not enough at current gas prices.
> Whether or not you believe in "Peak Oil", the facts are: oil is a
> non-renewable resource, it is becoming increasingly inefficient to
> extract the oil that does exist, and every dollar spent on imported
> oil is a dollar leaving the U.S. economy.  Regardless of your beliefs
> on climate change, it is clear that urban pollution is mostly due to
> internal combustion engines, and that urban pollution is a significant
> contributor to asthma, chronic bronchitis, and other respiratory
> diseases.  Some scientists believe that smog may also contribute to
> heart disease and cancer.
> 
> Continuing to rely on a resource where primary sources are in unstable
> regions such as the Middle East and some parts of Latin America, a
> resource that damages the environment, a resource that drains the
> American economy, is just not smart.  Mainstream America is incredibly
> short-sighted, looking at next month, next quarter, or next year, and
> not at the next decade, the next generation, or the next century.

I tend to agree with you, although making it painful for the consumer is 
not a solution I like.  It is likely the right solution.  We all know 
that when the cost of an item goes up, corporations will simply pass 
that cost to the consumer.  Whether that's because it's harder to 
produce or the lost of subsidies, or both.


-- 
Until later, Geoffrey

"I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent
the government from wasting the labors of the people under
the pretense of taking care of them."
- Thomas Jefferson